All my friends had only one reaction when I decided to move to the land of the idli vada dosas Utter disbelief! How could one with all his faculties intact leave the (imagined) goodness of Bangalore and move to Chennai? To be very frank, I was not very happy either, especially after all the horror stories of the autorickshaw drivers, weather and the language that I was told. Having survived here three years, me and this city have shocked each other and not always pleasantly. The ricshaw drivers are terrible, water IS a problem and it is not the cleanest city. Yet, there are a lot of redeeming things. My review concentrates on the places to hang out in chennai..So, if you are here, this information might be useful.
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A. Food- You have practically all the varieties of food available in chennai. If you are living in the heart of the city like I do, all these places are within fifteen minutes of travel. Like Saif says in DCH ’’Cake khaane ke liye hum kahin bhi jaayenge’’. Well, with me, just turn that cake into ’’khaana’’.
a. South Indian Food: Saravana Bhavan’s Sangeetha’s Komala’s Woodlands and Palimar (every area has an outlet) and Kumaran’s (alwarpet). If you order any south indian dish at these outlets, you will not be disappointed. There’s also Matsya and Dasprakash at Egmore worth a mention. The only grievance is that I like the Bangalore masala dosa better. There’s a recent MTR outlet in T nagar wher you can get this dosa but it is frozen-heated stuff and that puts me off. Theres a Kerala restaurant close to the music academy on TTK road. Amaravathi opposite music academy caters to the spicy andhra palate.
b. North Indian Food (which grossly means Punjabi food): Please refrain from ordering north indian dishes or chinese food in any of the above mentioned restaurants (except Saravana’s on peters road). Chances are that you will find mustard seeds and kadi patta in all that you order.
If it is punjabi you are looking for, try Dhaba Express or the Punjabi dhaba on mount road. Also, Sanjha chulha and Jus parathas. They are genuinely Punjabi (whatever that means). I know a small outlet on cathedral road called ’’Shirdi fast food’’ but if you are’nt from chennai, no one can help you getting to this place where they sell some lovely alu parathas.
c. Miscellaneous food: Gujrati (Bhavai at adyar), Rajasthani (Jaishree Bikaner on gream’s road), Chinese (Chinese hut, Wang’s Kitchen and one more on cathedral road), Malaysian (There’s one in pondy bazaar-dont know the name), French (Le-Madeline, alwarpet), Lebanese (Cedars-Kotturpuram), Peshawri (Bay Leaf-alwarpet), Sizzlers (Tangerine-alwarpet). Whew!!!. This is apart from the food festivals organised by the 5-star hotel guys. Let me also add a Thai restaurant Benjaron (on TTK road), Mexican food (Don Pepe-alwarpet). Check out the pasta at ’’Eden’’ on besant nagar beach. I do not like pasta but all my pasta-freaky friends freaked out on this place.
d. Chaat: The most unfortunate thing about chennai is that there are very few chaat centres (the tamils pronounce it as ’’chat’’). Gangotri on cathedral road is the most famous. There are a few road side stalls but eating there can be potentially hazardous to your health and chances are your pav bhaji will contain..you guessed it right ’’kadi patta!’’. This is one major grouse of all folks from mumbai who land up here.
e. Junk Food: Like any other city, Chennai has its Dominos, Pizza hut and Pizza corner spread liberally around the city. No ’’Mc Donald’s’’ so far.
f. Juice and ice creams: In a hot city, these are absolute necessities. Check out the amazing juices on ’’Fruit shops at gream’s road’’ (other outlets in besant nagar and annanagar). For ice creams, there is Snofield and Freezone in alwarpet and for the absolutely rich, Movenpick on greams road.
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B>Shopping:
If there are three things that people here will never tire of buying, it is Silk, gold and steel. And unfortunately, most of these showrooms are located either in Usman Road or Pondy bazaar and if you are a girl, go ahead and brave the crowds here. Husbands better try staying locked in your car (if you manage a parking space).
Spencers plaza on mount road is a shoppers paradise especially for the young. There is virtually no item which you cannot buy here. But if you are not sated, there is Globus, Lifestyle, Shopper’s stop and Isphani center.
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C>Beaches: Three beaches worth a mention are the Marina, Besant Nagar beach and the Thiruvanmiyur beach. The order of cleanliness is reverse the way I listed them. Apart from these, there are umpteen number of resorts next to the beachside from chennai all the way till Pondicherry.
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D> Amusement Parks: Dizzee world, Kishkinta and Queensland. None of them however come close to Essel world. I hear there is a gokarting track somewhere and there is a water-amusement park on East coast road.
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E) Theatres: Of all the theatres, the Satyam complex is the best place to catch up on a movie. The seats are comfortable, the AC is good and the crowd is excellent!
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F) Temples: Another thing the locals are very fond of which is why every king and patron worth his name has built a temple here for his favorite deity. Irrespective of which hindu god you worship, you will find something dedicated to them here. I hear there’s a temple for an actress called Khushboo...thats another story altogether. Nothing special about the churches and mosques. I frequent ’’Sufi dar’’ on RK salai where one can pray to any deity in complete silence. Not many people know about this place and good enough. I would not bear to see this embodiment of good temple management go berserk with crowds thronging.
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The best season to visit chennai is between october-february when it is mildly hot. The rest of the seasons is best left to adventurous people like me.
So, if you come to chennai, you know the places to go now....:). This review is dedicated to premjit for giving me the inspiration for the material.